Fay A. Howlette, manager of her husband’s optometry practice, dies at 89
Fay Anderson Howlette aided her husband, the late Dr. John L. Howlette Sr., in offering a new option for eye care in Richmond before the start of the Civil Rights Movement.
Barbara B. Abernathy Ross, longtime Carver community activist, dies at 77
When Virginia Commonwealth University sought to expand its campus north of Broad Street in the 1990s, the university hit a stonewall — civic activist Barbara Beatrice Abernathy Ross. As president of the Carver Area Civic Improvement League, or CACIL, Ms. Abernathy, as she was known in the community, fought against VCU’s plans to replace much of the neighborhood.
Encouraging
The Virginia General Assembly began its 2019 session this week, and last week, the 116th Congress got underway. As both legislative bodies get busy doing the work of the people, we feel a sense of hope and encouragement.
R. Kelly and whether black girls’ lives matter
After viewing “Surviving R. Kelly,” Lifetime’s riveting six-part documentary on the R&B star’s decades of child and sexual abuse allegations, one question rings out to me above all others: Do black girls’ lives matter?
Honoring Dr. King
On Monday, Jan. 21, the nation will engage in a variety of activities saluting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a great American and world humanitarian.
RPS seniors can apply free to more than 50 HBCUs
Richmond Public Schools students can apply to historically black colleges and universities for free, thanks to a partnership between RVA Future, the RPS Education Foundation and Common Black College Application.
HBCUs packing power for second half of basketball season
Virginia State University’s recent basketball success can be traced all the way to Chièvres Air Force Base in Belgium. That’s where Armond Griebe, who has given the Trojans a front court boost, grew up tall and strong overseas in a U.S. military family.
Saving Bennett College
Bennett College in Greensboro, N.C., is an oasis where we educate and celebrate women, and develop them into 21st century leaders and global thinkers.
Obamacare ruling a ‘political hand grenade’
After two long years of fruitlessly trying to kill Obamacare, the Republican Party and President Trump have been given a political hand grenade by a federal judge in Texas to get the job done.
The clear difference
As we enter a new year, we look for positive messages of uplift to inspire and motivate us for the days to come. While many recommend we shed the past, we found a distinctive voice from the past urging us to step boldly into the future.
Dr. Daniels and others must ‘put their money where their mouths are’ to block gentrification
I learned 20 years ago the difference in wealth in the white and black communities. I took a white man home to his brick bungalow in the West End, which he said he had bought for $10,000 after World War II and which at the time was assessed by the city at $90,000.
‘Pass your blessings forward’
While riding around the city, I noticed many people handing out meals to the homeless. Some were individuals and organizations committed to doing kind deeds during the holiday season.
Higher judgment
Nearly every day I see or hear something about a person going into a school or club or restaurant killing people and then killing themselves. It’s young people mainly who are doing the killing.
NPS eyeing space for civil rights monuments in Mississippi
The National Park Service, which manages the country’s national parks and many of its national monuments, is studying a location or locations throughout Mississippi to place a monument or monuments to tell the state’s complicated and violent civil rights history, according to the winter 2019 issue of National Parks Magazine.
Alvin Ailey troupe marks 60th anniversary
It was March 1958 when an African-American dancer named Alvin Ailey, then making his living on the Broadway stage, gathered up a group of fellow dancers and presented a one-night show of his own works.
Noted NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, at 100, writing her autobiography
Retired NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, who turned 100 last summer, has waited long enough to tell her own story.
L.C. Bird’s Jaden Payoute to play in All-American Bowl
The state’s fastest high school sprinter is headed to Virginia Tech to play football. Chesterfield County’s L.C. Bird High School senior Jaden Payoute officially signed last week with the Atlantic Coast Conference school in Blacksburg.
Richmonders hoping to take Clemson to victory in College Football Playoff
It may be up to two Richmonders to achieve something no one else has been able to do — stop the University of Alabama. Keep your eyes on orange jerseys No. 99 and No. 12 for Clemson University in the College Football Playoff final on Monday, Jan. 7, in Santa Clara, Calif.
Ravens’ Lamar Jackson defies Heisman history, breaks record
If there is such a thing as a Heisman Trophy jinx, Lamar Jackson seems immune to it — so far. At least among African-American quarterbacks, the Heisman — college football’s ultimate individual award — hasn’t exactly spelled a yellow brick road to NFL stardom.
Crystal Cathedral, former home of ‘Hour of Power’ to become Roman Catholic seat
For nearly 30 years, the Rev. Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral was not only a religious landmark, but an architectural wonder and an embodiment of flush times in Southern California’s Orange County.
